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Price,  50  cents 


DothcDcadRcturn? 


A  Startling  Story  from  Life 


Crown  Publishing  Company 
San  Trancisco 

1900 


DR.   LOUIS  8CHLESINQER. 


DO  THE  DEAD  RETURN  ? 


A  TRUE  STORY 

OF   STARTLING    SEANCES 
IN  SAN  FRANCISCO 


NOTICJSJ 

This  work  is  copyrighted.    Editors  are  warned 
not  to  make  unlawful  abridgments. 


CROWN   PUBLISHING   COMPANY 

SAN    FRANCISCO 

1900 


COPYBIGHT,   1900 

BY 

CBOWN  rUSLISMINQ  CO. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

Page 

Introduction 5 

The  Author's  Story 7 

The  "Examiner"  Seance     ....  14 

Some  Startling  Daylight  Seances  .  19 

Character  o¥  the  Narrators.    .    .  55 


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INTRODUCTION. 

Before  this  little  volume  is  read  a  few 
words  of  explanation  should  be  carefully 
weighed,  for  otherwise  the  reader  might 
go  away  with  many  false  impressions. 

The  author  desires  to  say  that  every 
word  here  printed  is  absolutely  and  liter- 
ally true.  Nothing  has  been  added  or  sup- 
pressed, but  the  entire  truth  has  been 
expressed,  usually  in  the  exact  language 
of  the  distinguished  gentlemen  whose  nar- 
ratives make  the  bulk  of  the  book.  In 
most  instances  the  witnesses  summoned 
wrote  their  accounts  with  their  own 
hands,  and  the  original  manuscripts  are 
still  preserved. 

Though  many  years  have  passed  since 
the   events   recorded   herein   transpired, 


&    ;  >" : './"     INTRODUCTION. 

all "  wb6-.  witnessed  the  phenomena  are 
still  alive,  and  all  are  well-known  and  rep- 
utable citizens  of  San  Francisco.  It 
was  only  a  few  days  ago  that  the  author 
met  Captain  W.  S.  Barnes,  who  was  Dis- 
trict Attorney  of  the  City  and  County  of 
San  Francisco  in  1893  (the  date  of  the  oc- 
currences with  which  the  book  deals), 
and  he  said :  "  What  I  saw  in  the  presence 
of  the  medium  has  puzzled  me  all  these 
years.  I  can  truthfully  say  that  the 
things  that  took  place  at  Mayor  EUert's 
office  are  the  most  wonderful  events  that 
I  have  ever  come  upon.  They  are  abso- 
lutely beyond  my  understanding." 

The  circumstances  with  which  the  nar- 
rative deals  are  an  important  contribu- 
tion to  the  history  of  psychic  research, 
and  they  are  presented  for  what  they  are 
worth  while  the  witnesses  and  actors  in 

the  story  are  alive.  ^ 

*^  The  Author. 

San  Francisco,  September,  1900. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  AUTHOR^S  STORY. 

In  the  autumn  of  1891,  the  author  of 
this  narrative  was  business  manager  of 
the  Modesto  (California)  Daily  News. 
One  afternoon  while  he  was  engaged  in 
an  important  consultation  with  the  late 
Senator  J.  D.  Spencer,  one  of  the  owners 
of  the  News,  there  was  a  knock  at  the  door 
of  the  editorial  rooms.  In  a  twinkling 
an  old  gentleman  entered ;  he  was  a  ven- 
erable-looking, long-bearded  man,  with 
Hebraic  features. 

Before  Senator  Spencer  and  I  could 
say,  "  Good  day,  sir ! "  the  old  man  said 
something  like  this :  "  Gentlemen,  I  am 
Dr.  Louis  Schlesinger,  the  famous  Spirit- 
ualist medium.    It  is  well  known  that  I 


8  DO    THE    DEAD    RETURN  f 

can  talk  with  the  good  angels,  and  I  desire 
to  have  a  series  of  seances  here  in  Mo- 
desto." 

"  Our  advertising  columns  are  open," 
I  said,  "  and  we  shall  be  pleased  to  an- 
nounce your  meetings  at  the  regular 
rates." 

"  I  have  no  money  to  spare,"  he  replied ; 
"  but  I  think  you  will  say  something  about 
me  when  I  show  you  that  man  lives  after 
death." 

The  Senator  whispered  to  me  (on  dis- 
covering that  the  old  gentleman  was  quite 
deaf),  "I  guess  he's  escaped  from  the 
Stockton  Lunatic  Asylum." 

Stockton  was  but  twenty  miles  away, 
and  I  assented,  but  said,  "  Suppose  we 
sound  him  before  we  send  for  an  officer." 

So  we  agreed  to  give  Dr.  Schlesinger  an 
opportunity  to  convince  us  that  he  was  a 
man  of  rare  endoAvments,  as  he  pretended 
to  be. 

Coming  to  the  point,  it  was  arranged 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN?  9 

that  the  Senator  should  retire  to  the  press- 
room while  I  remained  with  the  aged 
suspect. 

"  Take  eight  or  ten  slips  of  paper,"  said 
Dr.  Schlesinger,  "  and  write  one  name  on 
each — some  of  living,  some  of  dead  per- 
sons; and  don't  tell  me  or  anybody  on 
earth  what  names  you  have  written  on  the 
slips.  Roll  them  into  little  pellets — and 
come  back  here  with  your  mind  at  rest, 
for  I  am  not  insane,  as  you  think." 

We  were  somewhat  surprised,  for  both 
were  certain  that  the  old  gentleman 
could  not  have  heard  Senator  Spencer's 
whispered  doubt  concerning  our  visitor's 
sanity. 

In  a  few  minutes  Senator  Spencer  re- 
turned, bearing  a  number  of  paper  pellets 
which  he  held  in  his  clenched  right  hand. 

Doors  were  closed  and  a  table  was 
rolled  to  the  center  of  the  room.  Dr. 
Schlesinger  closed  his  eyes  and  appeared 
to  fall  into  a  light  slumber.    At  once  there 


10        DO    THE   DEAD   RETURN? 

were  many  distinct  raps  on  the  table,  as 
if  some  one  had  thumped  upon  it  with  a 
finger.  This  was  rather  singular,  as  we 
could  see  that  our  visitor's  hands  in  no 
manner  touched  the  table. 

Suddenly  the  old  man  opened  his  eyes 
and  said :  "  Gentlemen,  are  you  satisfied 
that  I  do  not  know  any  of  the  names  on 
those  papers?  " 

As  Senator  Spencer  was  as  truthful 
and  honorable  a  man  as  ever  lived,  one 
whose  word  was  better  than  most  men's 
bonds,  I  replied :  "  I  am  sure  you  have  not 
seen  the  names  and  that  you  do  not  know 
one  of  them.'' 

"And  some  of  the  names  are  not  known 
to  anybody  in  California,"  added  the 
Senator. 

"  Then  I  '11  have  to  show  you  that  I  can 
talk  with  the  spirits  of  the  departed," 
said  Dr.  Schlesinger. 

Without  further  delay  he  said :  "  I  see 
the  spirit  of  your  mother  standing  over 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN f        11 

you.  She  calls  you  Dillard,  which  is  your 
middle  name,  and  she  says  she  died  in 
Kansas  City,  and  was  buried  in  the  old 
cemetery  at  Westport.    Am  I  right?  " 

Senator  Spencer  turned  pale  and  said : 
"  That  is  absolutely  correct.  Which  one 
of  the  pellets  bears  her  name?  " 

He  then  held  the  bits  of  paper  between 
his  right  finger  and  thumb,  and  when  he 
had  picked  up  three  or  four  of  them,  the 
medium  said,  "  That  is  the  one  which  con- 
tains your  mother's  maiden  name." 

I  have  now  forgotten  the  maiden  name 
of  the  Senator's  mother,  though  I  think  it 
was  Dillard.  The  answer,  however,  was 
correct. 

Next,  without  asking  me  to  write  any- 
thing down,  the  medium  thus  addressed 
me :  "I  see  the  spirit  of  your  mother's 
mother.  Her  name  was  Eliza  Johnson, 
and  she  calls  you  ^  my  son,'  and  says, 
'  Tell  Anne  that  immortality  is  the  glori- 
ous truth  of  human  life.'  Anne  was  the 
name  of  her  eldest  child — your  mother." 


12        DO    THE    DEAD    RETURN  t 

If  Senator  Spencer  was  convinced  that 
Dr.  Schlesinger  had  told  him  the  truth,  I 
had  the  same  kind  of  conviction  in  my 
case ;  for  every  word  uttered  was  correct. 
I  have  never  understood  how  this  old  man 
came  to  the  results  announced,  nor  have 
I  ever  seen  any  one  who  was  able  to  ex- 
plain his  power. 

With  the  memory  of  my  Modesto  ex- 
periences fresh  in  mind,  I  decided,  when 
1  came  upon  Dr.  Schlesinger  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, in  1893,  to  institute  a  series  of  day- 
light seances  in  the  presence  of  some  of 
the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  San 
Francisco.  As  I  was  then  a  writer  of  the 
San  Francisco  Daily  Examiner  staff  I 
found  rare  opportunities  for  enlisting  the 
men  desired  in  the  experiments.  I  was 
not  then,  nor  am  I  now,  in  any  manner 
affiliated  with  Spiritualists,  nor  do  I  set 
forth  the  facts  of  this  narrative  for  the 
purpose  of  making  converts  to  any  theory 
of  mind  or  matter. 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f        13 

The  manuscript  from  which  this  work 
is  printed  was  written  at  the  time  of  the 
matters  recorded,  on  an  order  from  the 
Examiner.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  Mayor 
Ellert  afterwards  regretted  that  he  had 
allowed  a  seance  to  be  held  in  his  office, 
the  Examiner  was  induced  to  suppress  the 
story,  which  now  appears  in  detail  for  the 
first  time.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  all  that  follows  was  written  at  the 
time  of  the  events  described. 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  *'*■  EXAMINEE  '^  SEANCE. 

That  the  reader  may  fully  understand 
the  origin  of  the  experiments  recorded 
in  the  narrative  that  follows,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  state  again  that  I  was  a  writer  for 
the  Examiner  in  the  autumn  of  1893,  and 
that  I  was  on  the  alert  for  what  news- 
paper men  call  "  stories,"  or  special  arti- 
cles— things  a  little  outside  of  the  ordi- 
nary run  of  news. 

Ambitious  to  arrange  something  of  un- 
usual interest,  I  approached  Mr.  Hearst 
and  S.  S.  Chamberlain,  who  were  in 
charge  of  the  news  department  of  the 
paper.  I  told  them  what  I  had  seen  Dr. 
Schlesinger  do  in  Modesto,  and  outlined 
the  plans  that  were  afterwards  carried  out 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN?        15 

— seances  at  the  office  of  Mayor  Ellert  and 
the  Chief  of  Police,  in  the  presence  of 
prominent  citizens.  First,  however,  it  was 
necessary  for  the  editors  to  see  the 
medium  at  their  offices;  for  they  feared 
there  would  be  some  failure,  and  that  the 
citizens  invited  would  be  disgusted  be- 
cause of  their  loss  of  time  in  useless  ex- 
periments. 

For  these  reasons,  therefore,  the  first 
sittings  were  at  the  editorial  offices  of  the 
Examiner,  where  the  editors  were  as 
much  puzzled  as  anybody  else.  They  were 
at  once  convinced  that,  however  he  per- 
formed his  feats.  Dr.  Schlesinger  was  at 
least  not  a  bungling  master  of  the  black 
art.  Several  intelligent  observers  were 
present,  among  them  one  or  two  of  the 
brightest  newspaper  men  in  the  city.  The 
experiments  were  not  only  carefully 
noted,  but  they  were  viewed  with  grave 
suspicion.  They  were,  however,  wholly 
informal  and  merely  preliminary  to  the 


16        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f 

more  important  and  prolonged  seances 
that  followed  at  the  office  of  the  Mayor 
of  the  city,  and  later  at  the  office  of  and  in 
the  presence  of  the  city's  Chief  of  Police. 
A  few  facts  concerning  the  occurrences  at 
the  Examiner  office  are  given  that  the 
reader  may  have  the  full  benefit  of  the 
story. 

One  of  the  investigators  (Managing 
Editor  A.  B.  Henderson)  wrote  a  number 
of  names  on  slips  of  paper,  before  Dr. 
Schlesinger  arrived.  They  were  not  seen 
or  known  to  any  one  save  the  person  that 
prepared  them,  and  the  slips  on  which 
they  were  written  were  carefully  folded 
and  clasped  in  a  bundle,  by  a  rubber  band 
or  elastic.  Great  pains  was  taken  by  Mr. 
Henderson  to  prevent  the  medium  from 
handling  or  seeing  the  slips.  Without 
seeing  the  writing.  Dr.  Schlesinger  at 
once  gave  the  names  correctly.  One  of 
them  was  that  of  Thaddeus  Stevens,  the 
eminent  Pennsylvanian ;    and  when  the 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN f        17 

folded  slip  on  which  his  name  was  written 
was  touched  by  Mr.  Henderson,  the 
medium  said :  "  That  is  the  name  of 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  who  knew  you  well. 
He  calls  you  Alexander,  and  sends  you  his 
love." 

Then  the  name  of  the  sitter's  deceased 
uncle  was  properly  announced,  though  it 
had  not  been  written  on  any  of  the  slips. 
Correct  information  was  also  given  con- 
cerning the  uncle's  religion  while  "  in  the 
flesh." 

S.  S.  Chamberlain,  now  Managing  Edi- 
tor of  the  Philadelphia  North  American^ 
(then  News  Editor  of  the  Examiner) 
was  one  of  the  investigators.  He  wrote 
down,  on  separate  slips  of  paper,  the 
names  of  many  living  and  dead  persons, 
but,  contrary  to  the  medium's  request,  he 
did  not  write  the  names  of  persons  he  had 
ever  known.  In  a  few  moments  Dr. 
Schlesinger  read  the  names  correctly 
while  the  slips  were  beyond  his  reach,  and 


18        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  t 

firmly  clasped  in  Chamberlain's  hand. 
They  were  of  such  persons  as  John  Rus- 
kin,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Shakespeare, 
Longfellow,  etc. 

A  faithful  report  of  all  that  occurred 
was  submitted  to  the  managing  editor  of 
the  paper,  who  at  once  decided  that  a 
series  of  similar  experiments,  conducted 
at  the  office  of  the  Mayor  of  the  city  and 
others,  in  broad  daylight,  would  make  the 
basis  for  some  interesting  Sunday 
specials.  Under  his  instructions  I  ar- 
ranged the  seances,  and  was  present  at  all 
of  them.  I  subsequently  wrote  a  faithful 
account  of  what  occurred,  but  the  articles 
were  rejected  by  the  editor  of  the  Sunday 
Examiner  for  personal  reasons.  This 
volume  embraces  the  substance  of  what 
was  then  prepared. 


CHAPTEK    III. 

SOME  STARTLING  DAYLIGHT  SEANCES. 

It  was  on  September  4,  1893,  that  a 
number  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of 
San  Francisco  held  a  daylight  seance  (at 
high  noon)  at  the  office  of  Mayor  Ellert. 
The  company  had  assembled  in  response 
to  the  Examinees  invitation,  and  all  of 
the  witnesses  had  agreed  in  advance  to 
observe  everything  closely  and  write  an 
absolutely  fair  account  of  what  they  saw, 
adding  any  theory  or  explanation  that 
seemed  sufficient  to  account  for  the  phe- 
nomena. 

It  is  as  well  to  say  that  is  was  a  mirth- 
ful assembly  at  the  outset,  and  the  news- 
paper man  who  had  arranged  for  the 
experiments  was  the  butt  of  many  little 


20        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f 

jokes.  The  idea  that  the  medium  could 
do  anything  more  than  a  little  clever 
juggling  seemed  farthest  from  anybody's 
thoughts. 

Dr.  Louis  Schlesinger,  then  a  man 
about  sixty-one  years  of  age,  was  the 
spiritualist  medium  who  said  he  could 
convince  all  present  that  the  dead  return, 
and  that  he  could  hold  communion  with 
the  living.  The  following  spectators  were 
present,  and  the  written  reports  of  some 
of  them  are  given  in  full  in  the  subjoined 
narrative :  Mayor  Levi  R.  Ellert,  District 
Attorney  W.  S.  Barnes,  President  Theo- 
dore F.  Bonnet,  of  the  San  Francisco 
Press  Club,  Ex-President  Grant  Carpen- 
ter, of  the  same  club,  H.  H.  McCloskey, 
then  a  State  Central  Committeeman  of 
the  Republican  party,  and  many  other 
casual  observers. 

At  another  seance  Chief  of  Police 
Crowley,  Judge  Robert  Ferral,  Dr.  R.  E. 
Bunker,  and  Attorney  Charles  L.  Patton 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f        21 

were  the  principal  investigators,  though 
Captain  Wright  and  many  others  saw  all 
that  was  done.  At  this  seance  the  obser- 
vations were  conducted  under  the  test 
conditions  arranged  by  Chief  Crowley, 
Dr.  Bunker,  and  Attorney  Patton. 

The  reader  should  satisfy  himself  con- 
cerning the  mental  and  moral  qualifica- 
tions of  all  the  witnesses  named  by  glanc- 
ing at  the  biographical  sketches  elsewhere 
in  this  volume. 

At  the  Mayor's  office  Dr.  Schlesinger 
was  announced  as  a  resident  of  No.  1  Polk 
Street.  He  said  he  knew  none  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  nobody  present  except  the 
Examiner's  representative  knew  the  Doc- 
tor.* 

"  I  can  converse  with  the  spirits  of  your 
deceased  friends,"  said  the  medium,  "  and 
I  am  giving  my  life  to  this  work.  I  gave 
up  a  great  tea  business  to  teach  my  fellow 
men  that  life  does  not  end  at  the  grave. 

♦He  now  lives  in  Boston.— Editor, 


22        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f 

My  home  is  constantly  filled  with  bands 
of  angels  from  the  celestial  depths,  but  I 
am  able  to  call  a  few  spirits  around  any 
box,  table,  or  desk.  I  want  you  to  satisfy 
yourself  that  all  that  is  done  here  is  ab- 
solutely honest." 

Before  proceeding  further  the  Doctor 
produced  a  testimonial  from  Editor  Will 
S.  Green,  of  the  Colusa  8un  (afterwards 
State  Treasurer),  which  explained  that 
Dr.  Schlesinger's  performances  could  not 
be  explained  on  the  theory  of  trickery.  A 
clippirg  from  the  Sun  of  September  5, 
1890,  gave  an  account  of  matters  that  had 
puzzled  the  people  of  Colusa.  The  in- 
vestigations began,  therefore,  with  a  great 
deal  of  interest,  and  before  their  conclu- 
sion the  old  Doctor  had  greatly  puzzled 
all  present.  They  could  not  tell  whether 
it  was  some  psychic  power  by  which  he 
operated,  or  whether  they  had  been  basely 
deceived. 

At  his  own  request,  Dr.  Schlesinger  was 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f        23 

not  introduced  to  any  of  the  persons  pres- 
ent. He  soon  called  their  names,  however, 
and  said  they  were  given  to  him  by  the 
spirits  in  the  raps  that  all  could  hear  on 
the  desk. 

The  Doctor's  favorite  method  of  com- 
municating startling  information  was  to 
have  the  sitters  write,  before  they  came 
into  his  presence,  fifteen  or  twenty  names 
of  living  and  dead  friends.  Each  name 
being  on  a  separate  piece  of  paper,  the 
visitors  were  requested  to  fold  each  slip 
tightly,  so  as  to  preclude  any  possibility 
of  its  being  read  by  the  medium.  This 
done,  the  slips,  all  of  equal  size,  were  put 
into  a  hat  and  thoroughly  shuffled.  The 
Doctor  would  then  say :  "  Pick  out  any 
slip  yourself,  and  I  will  read  it  without 
looking  and  before  you  yourself  know 
what  the  name  is."  There  would  then  be 
raps,  and  in  a  few  seconds  the  Doctor 
would  give  the  name  correctly.  These 
names  were  written  and  folded  in  a  room 
apart  from  the  Doctor. 


24        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f 

"  Granting  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
mind-reading,"  said  Chief  Crowley,  "  I 
do  not  think  mind-reading  would  account 
for  what  was  done  for  me,  because  he  read 
things  that  were  not  in  my  mind,  telling 
me  my  mother's  maiden  name  and  where 
she  died." 

Dr.  Schlesinger  calls  his  gift  clairau- 
dient  mediumship,  and  says  his  right  ear 
is  deaf  to  all  terrestrial  sounds,  but 
quickened,  as  with  a  sixth  sense,  for  com- 
munications from  the  other  world.  He 
says  he  can  both  see  and  hear  spirits,  and 
that  bands  of  them  encircle  him,  and  at 
times,  in  the  presence  of  some  peculiarly 
"  fit "  visitors,  manifest  themselves  with 
great  clearness  and  power.  To  prove  that 
the  sounds  he  hears  are  celestial  voices,  he 
does  many  things  which  baffle  those  who 
witness  the  strange  phenomena  which 
abound  in  his  presence  wherever  he  goes. 

It  was  with  much  difficulty  that  those 
who  participated  in  these  seances  and 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  t        25 

whose  accounts  of  what  they  saw  are  sub- 
joined, were  induced  to  give  the  medium 
a  hearing.  Chief  Crowley  was  particu- 
larly opposed  to  giving  serious  attention 
to  what  he  denounced  as  "  trickery  and 
sleight  of  hand,"  and  afterwards  called 
"  marvelous  and  beyond  power  of  expla- 
nation." Finally  he  wrote  down  a  number 
of  names  on  separate  slips,  as  explained 
in  the  foregoing,  and  among  those  names 
appeared  that  of  his  mother — her  maiden 
name.  The  medium  at  once  told  the  Chief 
which  pellet  contained  his  mother's  name, 
then  read  it,  and  in  a  few  moments  told 
where  she  died  and  where  she  was  buried. 

A  few  minutes  later  the  aged  Doctor 
said :  "  The  spirit  of  Detective  Hutton, 
who  died  a  violent  death,  hovers  near 
you." 

The  medium  then  spoke  of  matters  that 
were  known  to  nobody  but  Chief  Crowley 
and  the  dead  detective.  This  greatly 
puzzled  the  Chief,  who  was  later  deeply 


26        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN f 

affected  over  purported  messages  from  a 
son  and  others  who  had  been  dear  to  him 
in  life. 

Speaking  of  the  purported  message 
from  his  dead  mother  the  Chief  said :  "  I 
cannot  explain  this,  which  is  marvelous, 
for  I  do  not  believe  a  human  being  in  San 
Francisco  knew  that  my  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Elizabeth  McCarthy,  that  she 
died  in  New  Jersey  and  was  buried  in  New 
York." 

Chief  Crowley  then  wrote  down  a  list  of 
years,  among  them  the  year  of  his 
mother's  death.  Dr.  Schlesinger  pointed 
to  the  year  1833  as  that  of  her  death. 

"  Correct !  "  replied  Chief  Crowley ; 
whereupon  the  medium  said,  ''  and  the 
name  of  your  father,  Patrick  J.  Crowley, 
is  also  here,  and  he  comes  with  your  son 
Lewis,  who  has  not  been  dead  long." 

The  Chief  thought  it  the  most  wonder- 
ful performance  he  had  ever  seen.  "  He 
does  marvelous  and  inexplicable  things," 


DO    THE   DEAD   RETURN  f        27 

said  the  Chief,  "  and  I  '11  admit  I  cannot 
tell  how  it  is  dona  While  I  cannot  believe 
he  converses  with  spirits,  I  am  puzzled. 


EX-CHIEF  OF  POLICE   P.    CROWLEY. 

I  want  to  see  him  again  and  look  into  the 
matter  further.'' 

The  experiments  with  Mayor  L.  R. 
Ellert,  who  sprang  from  his  chair  and 
positively  declined  to  be  thrown  into  a 


28        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f 

trance  condition  when  the  doctor  re- 
quested him  thus  to  visit  the  spirit  world, 
were  fully  as  startling  as  those  with  Chief 
Crowley. 

Mayor  Ellert  took  a  chair  in  front  of 
his  official  table,  which  had  thus  been 
dedicated  to  spiritual  uses,  and  asked  if 
any  spirits  desired  to  communicate  with 
him,  whereupon  the  medium  grasped  his 
Honor's  hands  and  the  line  of  communica- 
tion with  the  spirits  was  declared  fully 
established.  Quite  distinct  raps  were 
then  heard  on  the  table,  and  Dr.  Schlesin- 
ger  looked  at  the  Mayor  and  said :  "  You 
are  a  medium  yourself,  sir!  My,  what  a 
power ! " 

The  Mayor  was  urged  "  to  sit  alone 
often  and  be  patient,"  and  was  told  that 
he  could  develop  much  power  by  such  a 
course. 

Mayor  Ellert  then  wrote  down  ten  of 
fifteen  names  of  living  and  dead  friends, 
on  separate  slips  of  paper.     He  refused 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 


29 


to  use  the  paper  handed  him  by  Dr. 
Schlesinger,  but  cut  up  an  official  letter 
head  which  lay  on  his  own  desk.  As  he 
began  to  write  the  names,  the  medium 


HON.   L.    R.   ELLERT. 


stepped  away  and  engaged  in  conversa- 
tion with  District  Attorney  Barnes  and 
Mr.  Bonnet  at  the  other  side  of  the  room, 
so  that  he  could  not  see  what  Mayor  Ellert 
wrote.     The  Mayor  carefully  folded  the 


30        DO    THE   DEAD   RETURN? 

slips,  put  them  in  a  hat,  and  shuffled  them. 
He  then  brought  one  forth  from  the 
hatful. 

"  That 's  a  dead  one,"  said  Dr.  Schles- 
inger.  "  Open  it  and  see  whether  I  am 
correct ;  but  don't  let  me  see  it." 

The  Mayor  obeyed  the  request,  and 
answered,  "  Yes,  this  is  a  dead  person's 
name! " 

"  Don't  let  me  see  it,"  said  the  mys- 
terious visitor,  "  and  I  '11  tell  you  what  It 
is,"  whereupon  he  at  once  correctly  pro- 
nounced the  name  of  the  Mayor's  sister, 
which  was  not  Ellert. 

The  Mayor  then  announced  that  he  was 
unable  to  explain  the  phenomena.  He 
watched  the  medium's  movements  and 
convinced  himself  that  there  had  been  no 
juggling  in  the  shuffle,  and  said  that  his 
visitor  out-Hermanned  Hermann.  He 
would  leave  the  solution  of  the  phenomena 
to  others  learned  in  the  arts  of  divination. 

The  outcome  of  the  seances  and  the 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f        31 

story  of  what  occurred  may  best  be  told 
by  those  who  were  present,  and  the  sub- 
joined versions  are  given : — 

ATTORNEY  PATTON^S  STOEY. 


CHARLES   L.    PATTON. 


"  I  desire  to  preface  what  I  have  to  say 
by  remarking  that  while  I  have  never 
been  nor  am  I  now  a  spiritualist,  nor  have 
I  ever  before  been  present  at  the  per- 
formance of  a  medium,  yet  what  I  saw  of 


32        DO    THE    DEAD    RETURN? 

Dr.  Schlesinger's  so-called  manifestations 
from  the  spirit  world  is  entirely  inex- 
plicable to  me  upon  any  scientific  hypo- 
thesis with  which  I  am  familiar;  yet  at 
the  same  time  I  must  admit  that  I  cannot 
explain  the  phenomena  exhibited  upon 
any  theory  of  legerdemain  or  sleight  of 
hand  within  my  knowledge.  Therefore,  I 
merely  state  that  I  have  seen,  or  seem- 
ingly seen,  and  heard  the  following  re- 
markable things,  during  the  sitting  or 
seance  with  Dr.  Schlesinger,  leaving  it  to 
others  more  competent  than  I  to  deter- 
mine whether  they  are  the  manifestations 
of  some  psychic  force  at  present  unadmit- 
ted by  scientists  or  the  legerdemain  of  a 
sleight-of-hand  performer. 

"  The  facts  are  as  follows :  At  the  re- 
quest of  the  Doctor,  I  wrote  eight  or  ten 
names  of  different  persons  on  as  many 
slips  of  paper,  two  of  the  number  being 
dead,  and  folded  the  slips  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  Doctor  could  not  read 


DO    THE    DEAD    RETURN  f        33 

them ;  and  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  the  Doc- 
tor could  not  have  had  any  method  of 
knowing  what  names  I  wrote.  I  then 
placed  the  folded  papers  in  a  hat,  and  one 
of  the  other  gentlemen  present  drew  them 
out  one  by  one.  The  Doctor,  as  each  paper 
was  drawn  out,  asked  some  question,  such 
as  *  Guide,  is  this  the  one  dead?' 
Finally,  after  all  the  papers  had  been  held 
up  and  the  questions  asked,  some  raps  on 
the  table,  seeming  to  have  indicated  ac- 
cording to  the  Doctor  that  the  persons 
whose  names  were  on  two  of  the  slips 
were  dead,  I,  on  examination,  found  that 
he  was  correct  in  his  judgment.  He  then 
without  (so  far  as  I  could  see)  having  had 
any  opportunity  to  have  seen  the  names, 
desired  me  to  place  the  slips  with  the 
names  on  in  my  pocket.  Presently  he 
said :  *  I  see  two  faces  over  your  shoulder ; 
the  name  of  one  is  J.  B.  The  other  says : 
*  I  am  glad  you  have  commemorated  my 
name  by  writing  it  here,"  the  name  is  V. 


84        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 

C. ; '  the  Doctor  being  correct  in  naming 
the  deceased  person  in  each  instance,  and 
the  message  being  appropriate  to  the 
character  of  the  deceased  person.  I  will 
add,  that,  so  far  as  I  know,  Dr.  Schlesin- 
ger  had  no  possible  means  of  knowing  the 
name  or  anything  about  either  person. 
One  of  the  names,  I  feel  confident,  was  not 
krown  to  any  person  in  California  outside 
of  myself.  Chas.  L.  Patton." 

BARNES  WAS  PUZZLED. 

District  Attorney  Barnes  gives  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  the  seance : — 

"  I  was  completely  surprised  at  the 
performance  in  the  Mayor's  office.  It  was 
the  first  seance  I  had  ever  attended,  and 
I  must  confess  that  I  had  not  the  slightest 
respect  for  such  manifestations  other 
than  a  natural  admiration  for  the  quick- 
ness of  the  operator.  I  had  always  sup- 
posed that  batteries,  wires,  a  tolerable 
acquaintance  with  the  sitter,  all  aided  by 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 


35 


darkness,  were  the  causes  of  the  effects 
produced  by  the  medium.  In  this  case, 
however,  the  seance  took  place  in  broad 
daylight,  and  no  attempt  was  made,  so 


ATTORNEY  W.   S.   BARNES. 


far  as  I  could  see,  to  use  any  mechanical 
means.  The  medium  sat  two  or  three  feet 
from  the  Mayor's  desk,  and  only  touched 
the  desk  occasionally  with  his  hand,  yet 
from  that  desk  came  the  spirit  rappings 


36        DO    THE    DEAD    RETURN  f 

that  were  clearly  audible  to  all  of  us  in 
the  room.  I  watched  the  others  write  lists 
of  names  containing  each  the  name  of 
some  dead  person,  and  saw  the  quickness 
with  which  Dr.  Schlesinger  picked  out 
the  persons  who  had  passed  away,  and 
gave  messages  from  them.  When  it  came 
my  turn  I  wrote  a  number  of  names  on 
small  slips  of  paper,  folded  them  and  held 
them  in  my  hand.  Among  these  names 
was  that  of  a  classmate  of  mine  at  Har- 
vard, who  died  long  ago  at  Philadelphia, 
who  had  never  been  in  California,  and 
whose  name  I  have  not  mentioned  for 
years.  Hardly  had  I  sat  down  when  Dr. 
Schlesinger  called  his  full  name  and  gave 
me  a  message  from  him,  recalling  an  oc- 
currence, so  far  as  I  am  aware,  known 
only  to  the  dead  man  and  myself.  To  say 
that  I  was  amazed  but  feebly  expresses 
it;  and  when  I  asked  the  Doctor  whence 
he  got  his  information,  he  replied,  *  It  is 
borne  to  me  on  angels'  wings.' 


DO    THE   DEAD    RETURN  f        37 

V 

"  Whether  it  was  or  not,  it  was  a  most 
remarkable  thing,  and  deeply  impressed 
upon  me  that  *  There  are  more  things  in 
heaven  and  earth  than  are  dreamt  of  in 
our  philosophy.' 

"  William  S.  Barnes." 

Seven  years  after  the  foregoing  was 
written,  Mr.  Barnes  expressed  himself  as 
still  deeply  puzzled.  "  I  cannot  think  of 
any  experience  in  life  so  marvelous,"  he 
said,  "  so  beyond  my  power  to  explain." 

JUDGE  FERRAL^S  TESTIMONY. 

Ex-Judge  Kobert  FerraPs  narrative 
largely  corroborates  what  the  others  said. 
He  presents  the  case  in  his  own  way. 

"  Having  taken  a  deep  interest  from 
early  boyhood  in  exhibitions  of  a  mar- 
velous nature,  such  as  magic,  legerde- 
main, mesmerism,  hypnotism,  mind-read- 
ing, and  spiritualism,  it  was  with  pleasure 
that  I  accepted  the  kind  invitation  to  visit 


38        DO    THE   DEAD   RETURN  f 

Dr.  ScMesinger  and  personally  witness 
his  experiments  and  manifestations. 

"  I  found  the  Doctor  an  aged,  venerable 
man,  in  a  large  room,  surrounded  by  a 
company  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  bright, 
cheerful,  and  intelligent,  all  apparently 
bent  upon  the  rational  enjoyment  of  this 
life,  and  happy  in  the  belief  of  companion- 
able intercourse  with  the  realm  of  spirits. 

"  Retiring  to  more  quiet  quarters,  con- 
sisting of  an  ordinary  bedroom  and 
parlor,  the  business  began  without  waste 
of  words  or  loss  of  time.  Having  written 
the  names  of  half  a  dozen  persons,  living 
and  dead,  each  name  on  a  separate  slip, 
carefully  folded  and  looking  precisely 
alike,  which  were  tossed  into  a  hat  and 
well  shaken  up,  the  doctor  proceeded  to 
name  the  contents  of  each  paper  as  it  was 
drawn  out.  Occasionally  he  made  a  mis- 
take, but  in  nearly  every  instance  suc- 
ceeded at  the  first  or  second  trial.  He  first 
separated  the  living  from  the  dead,  with- 


DO    THE   DEAD   RETURN  f 


39 


out  opening  the  slips,  and  sometimes  not 
even  touching  them;  then  proceeded  to 
give  the  names.  Afterward,  upon  writing 
place  and  cause  of  death,  age,  occupation, 


JUDGE   ROBERT  FERRAL. 


etc.,  upon  other  slips,  the  same  result 
followed.  Some  of  the  names  submitted 
by  me  were  peculiar,  and  I  believe  known 
to  no  one  else  in  this  city,  yet  they  were 
announced — read  off,  as  it  were — with 


iO        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 

but  little  hesitation  and  generally  exactly 
as  written.  The  same  thing  occurred  as 
to  the  diseases  and  places  of  death. 

"During  this  manifestation  of  his  power 
Dr.  Schlesinger  simply  formed  a  circle  or 
chain  of  hands,  connecting  with  himself, 
frequently  tapped  the  table,  and  appealed 
to  an  unseen  ^  guide '  for  his  information. 
Raps  were  said  to  have  been  heard  also, 
but  of  this  I  cannot  bear  testimony. 

"  How  was  this  done?  By  mesmerism? 
No;  for  there  was  nothing  in  the  nature 
of  sleep  or  putting  to  sleep.  Mind-read- 
ing? Possibly;  although  some  of  the 
slips  of  paper  were  read  correctly  when 
the  contents  were  for  the  time  forgotten 
and  unknown  to  myself.  Hypnotism? 
Don't  know,  having  but  a  faint  idea  how 
far  these  phenomena  extend.  By  sharp- 
ness of  sight,  trickery,  sleight  of  hand?  I 
cannot  answer,  at  least  for  the  present, 
remaining,  as  before,  an  agnostic  on  these 
matters;    unable  to  give  an  intelligent 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f        41 

explanation,  but  at  the  same  time  not  dis- 
posed to  jeer  or  scoff  at  what  I  do  not 
understand.    Eespectfully, 

"  Robert  Ferral." 
September  5,  1893. 

DR.  BUNKER^S  NARRATIVE. 

The  following  is  Dr.  R.  E.  Bunker's 
account,  written  at  his  old  office.  No.  802 
Kearny  Street,  just  after  the  seances  and 
while  he  was  still  in  charge  of  the  City 
Receiving  Hospital: — 

"  I  saw  Dr.  Schlesinger  in  company 
with  the  other  gentlemen  named,  and  I 
saw  wonderful  things  which  I  am  wholly 
unable  to  explain.  The  phenomena,  mani- 
festations, or  things  that  occur  in  the 
medium's  presence  are  not  only  interest- 
ing, but  marvelous.  I  went  possessed  of 
something  like  eight  or  ten  slips  of  paper, 
on  each  of  which  I  had  previously  written 
(at  my  office)  a  name  of  some  person  I 
had  known — some  living,  some  dead.    Not 


42        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 

a  soul  ever  saw  the  slips,  for  I  was  alone 
when  I  wrote  the  names.  Furthermore, 
they  were  so  folded  that  no  one  could 
possibly  have  read  a  single  name.  Dr. 
Schlesinger  at  once  picked  out  the  names 
of  living  and  dead  persons,  while  the  slips 
were  held  between  my  fingers  and  when 
I  did  not  know  what  person's  name  was  on 
the  particular  slip  that  I  held.  He  pro- 
nounced every  name  correctly  while  I  held 
the  pellet,  or  as  it  lay  untouched  on  his 
table. 

"  To  say  that  what  he  did  was  by  the  aid 
of  wires  or  batteries  would  be  to  impart 
to  wires  and  batteries  more  intelligence 
than  the  greatest  philosophers  have  ever 
possessed.  This  is  no  explanation;  nor 
has  any  one  ever  been  able  to  explain  to 
me  how  these  things  were  done.  I  do  not 
believe  it  was  mind-reading  (a  term  that 
conveys  no  intelligent  idea  to  me  any- 
how), for  I  did  not  know  the  name  on  the 
slip  under  question — not  until  I  after- 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN?        43 

wards  -anfolded  it  and  corroborated  the 
Doctor's  readings.  You  understand  that 
the  entire  bunch  had  been  thoroughly 
shuffled  in  a  hat  before  any  slip  was  picked 
up. 

"  To  come  to  specific  instances,  let  me 
give  a  few  cases  as  they  occurred.  On  one 
slip  I  had  written  my  mother's  maiden 
name,  which  was  not  known  to  anybody 
in  San  Francisco.  It  was  placed  among 
eight  or  ten  other  names  of  women — some 
married,  some  unmarried,  some  wholly 
fictitious.  All  slips  were  folded  alike  and 
placed  in  a  hat  under  the  table,  which  I 
held  in  my  hands.  Dr.  Schlesinger  asked 
me  to  pick  out  the  pellets,  one  at  a  time 
and  hold  them  between  my  finger  and 
thumb.  He  would  say,  '  That  is  not  the 
name,  throw  it  aside ; '  and  so  on,  until 
he  hesitated  at  one  pellet  and  said,  *  That 
is  your  mother's  maiden  name;  it  is  Emily 
J.  Laumann.' 

"  The  answer  was  correct,  and  in  a 


44        DO    THE    DEAD  RETURN  f 

similar  manner  he  read  other  names  and 
told  me  all  about  the  persons.  I  had 
written  the  name  of  Dick  Foster  on  one 
slip.  Foster  had  died  of  consumption  at 
the  old  Bella  Union  Theater,  on  June 
21st.  The  medium  did  not  read  his  name, 
but  wrote  a  message  backwards — that  is, 
from  left  to  right — very  rapidly,  and 
when  I  held  it  up  to  the  light  with  the 
written  surface  from  me,  I  could  read  the 
following : — 

/  am  glad  to  he  here,  and  if  I  can  obtain 
the  appropriate  conditions  I  will  show  my 
identity,  DICK  FOSTER. 

"  This  was  a  puzzling  thing,  and  I 
should  like  for  some  one  to  explain  how 
it  was  done,  if  there  was  not  communica- 
tion with  some  invisible  intelligence.  In 
regard  to  Foster's  name  it  should  be  said 
that  the  medium  had  not  §een  nor  heard 
it,  and  that  his  hand  flew  over  the  paper 
very  fast  while  he  wrote  the  backward 
So   far  as  I   could   see,   Dr. 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN?        45 

Schlesinger  was  quite  deaf  and  near- 
sighted. He  was  an  old  man  of  heavy 
weight  and  clumsy  fingers.  His  manner 
was  that  of  a  devout  believer  in  the 
genuineness  of  his  theory.  If  any  one  can 
explain  to  me  how  these  things  were  done, 
he  will  interest  me  far  more  than  Dr. 
Schlesinger  did,  and  it  should  be  said  that 
my  attention  to  what  he  did  was  held 
without  interruption  from  the  start. 
There  were  several  other  like  tests  where- 
in he  read  for  me  other  names  by  a  process 
equally  startling,  making  one  feel  that  he 
had  marvelous  powers. 

"  R.  E.  Bunker,  M.  D." 

WHAT  MR.  BONNET  SAW. 

Theodore  F.  Bonnet,  who  was  a  re- 
porter for  the  Daily  Report  at  the  time 
of  the  seance  at  the  Mayor's  office,  was  a 
guest  of  the  author  during  the  seance. 
Mr.  Bonnet,  who  is  now  editor  and  ownet' 
of  Town  TallCy  an  influential  weekly  news- 


46        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 

paper,  wrote  the  following  account  of 
what  he  saw  and  handed  it  to  the  author 
just  after  the  seance: — 

"After  witnessing  the  efforts  of  Dr. 
Schlesinger  as  a  medium,  one  cannot  but 
be  impressed  by  his  marvelous  powers  of 
divination.  They  are  impossible  of  ex- 
planation on  any  hypothesis  calculated  to 
reduce  his  work  to  the  vulgar  plane  of 
legerdemain.  Yet  the  manifestations,  as 
he  is  pleased  to  call  his  marvelous, 
puzzling  and  apparently  supernatural 
revelations  concerning  matters  with 
which  he  could  not  become  familiar  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  are  after  all,  un- 
satisfactory to  the  person  engaged  in  test- 
ing his  power.  I  must  give  him  credit, 
however,  for  having  startled  me  by  one 
message.  I  had  written  on  small  slips  of 
paper,  which  were  then  carefully  folded — 
all  this  an  hour  or  more  before  the  meet- 
ing. One  of  the  names  was  Joseph  Touhill, 
an  Oakland  burglar,  who  had  been  killed 


DO    THE   DEAD    RETURN? 


47 


by  a  policeman  who  caught  him  robbing  a 
saloon.  I  had  known  Touhill,  and  had 
been  quite  friendly  with  him  in  late  years, 
but  had  never  suspected  that  he  was  of 


EDITOR  THEODORE  F.   BONNET. 

the  Jekyll  and  Hyde  species.  The  medium 
did  not  at  once  direct  me  to  the  piece  of 
paper  on  which  Touhill's  name  was 
written,  but  afterwards  he  suddenly  said : 


48        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 

*  The  spirit  of  the  man  with  whom  you 
wish  to  communicate  is  here  now.' 

"  I  signified  my  willingness  to  hear 
from  the  spirit,  whereupon  the  Doctor 
said,  *  Old  boy,  I  'm  not  quite  as  dead  as 
you  think.'  Then  he  mentioned  the  name 
of  Joseph  Touhill.  Now,  this  circum- 
stance deeply  impressed  me,  because  the 
language  was  so  characteristic  of  the  dead 
burglar,  it  having  been  customary  with 
him  to  address  me  as  '  Old  boy.'  Mind- 
reading  will  have  to  be  rejected  as  an 
explanation,  because  the  Doctor  subse- 
quently read  a  name  that  was  on  a  pellet 
that  I  had  not  opened,  and  knew  nothing 
about  until  I  subsequently  read  it.  I 
picked  up  the  pellet  from  the  desk  where 
I  had  put  it  with  a  number  of  others,  and 
handed  it  to  Mayor  Ellert,  who,  without 
examining  it,  deposited  it  in  his  vest- 
pocket.  Then  came  rappings  on  the  table, 
and  the  medium  said :  <  Behind  you  stands 
the  spirit  of  the  man  whose  name  is  on 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN?        49 

that  paper.  He  was  an  eminent  person, 
and  he  died  far  away  from  here.  He  is 
waving  a  flag  over  your  head,  and  on  it 
is  written  the  name  of  Victor  Hugo.' 

"  The  name  was  correct.  Subsequently 
the  Doctor  correctly  read  the  name  of 
William  Cullen  Bryant,  which  I  had  also 
written.  The  Doctor  quoted  the  spirit  of 
the  poet  as  saying  that  he  was  delighted 
that  I  was  interested  in  demonstrating 
that  there  was  a  world  of  spirits.  Dr. 
Schlesinger's  feats  are  bewildering  to  the 
human  mind.  If  he  is  a  mere  trickster  he 
possesses  in  a  marvelous  way  the  skill  to 
disguise  his  character,  for  his  appearance 
and  demeanor  are  those  peculiar  to 
fanaticism  or  strong  faith  in  a  cause. 

"  Theo.  F.  Bonnet/'' 

mr.  m^closkey^s  version. 
The  following  is  the  narrative  of  Mr. 
H.  H.  McCloskey,  a  resident  of  Merced  at 
the  time  of  the  seance,  but  now  a  San 
Francisco  lawyer: — 


50        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f 

"  I  did  not  attend  the  little  seance  at 
the  Mayor's  office  by  appointment.  I  was 
on  my  way  to  finish  up  some  business  and 
catch  the  4-o'clock  boat,  when  District 
Attorney  Barnes  suggested  that  I  drop  in 
and  see  the  fun.  Intending  to  remain  but 
a  few  moments,  I  accepted  the  invitation, 
and  have  no  reason  to  regret  having  done 
so.  As  to  what  happened  there,  while  I 
remember  perfectly  well  what  was  done, 
and  kept  careful  note  of  all  that  I  saw,  I 
am  unable  to  account  for  it  on  any  other 
hypothesis  than  that  the  Doctor  was,  as 
he  claims  to  be,  a  spiritual  medium.  At 
the  same  time  I  am  not  prepared  to  admit 
that  much. 

^'  What  I  saw  I  saw  clearly ;  it  was  real 
and  devoid  of  illusion.  There  being  no 
one  present  but  the  Mayor  and  thoroughly 
reputable  gentlemen,  collusion  by  which 
a  portion  of  the  events  of  that  afternoon 
might  be  accounted  for  is,  of  course,  out 
of  the  question;    and  neither  collusion, 


DO    THE    DEAD    RETURN?        51 

mind-reading,    nor   anything   else   could 
account  for  all  that  occurred. 

^^  The  Doctor  requested  me  to  write  on 
seven  slips  of  paper,  one  on  each  slip,  the 
names  of  six  acquaintances,  five  of  whom 
were  living  and  the  sixth  dead.  On  the 
seventh  my  own  name  was  to  be  written. 
1  had  never  seen  the  Doctor  before,  and 
have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  had 
ever  seen  me.  I  used  my  own  pencil  in 
writing  the  names,  and  wrote  upon  paper 
furnished  by  the  city  and  county  for  the 
use  of  his  Honor  the  ^layor.  When  writ- 
ing the  names  I  was  twenty  feet  away 
from  the  Doctor,  and  as  I  wrote  upon  each 
slip  I  folded  it  up  carefully,  so  that  I  my- 
self could  not  see  anything  of  the  writing, 
nor  tell  one  of  the  seven  slips  from  the 
others.  Five  of  the  names  were  those  of 
intimate  personal  friends,  the  sixth  of  a, 
man  whom  I  knew  in  a  business  way,  but 
for  whom,  while  1  was  not  at  all  intimate 
with  him,  I  had  always  a  great  regard. 


52        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f 

This  man  is  dead,  and  has  been  so  for  a 
couple  of  years. 

"  In  obedience  to  the  Doctor's  request, 
I  placed  the  seven  slips  on  the  table.  Tak- 
ing the  hand  of  Mr.  Barnes,  I  holding  the 
hand  of  the  latter,  the  Doctor  proceeded 
to  take  the  slips  one  by  one  from  the  table. 
The  first  he  held  a  second  and  dropped. 
The  second  he  handed  to  me  saying,  '  This 
contains  your  name.'  Upon  opening  it  I 
found  the  Doctor  to  be  correct,  and  askinir 
him  what  my  name  was  he  promptly  told 
us. 

"  I  confess  I  was  a  little  mystified,  but 
the  Doctor  did  n't  stop  there.  Continuing, 
he  picked  up  the  other  slips  until  the  fifth 
one  had  been  reached.  '  This  is  the  name 
of  your  dead  friend.  His  name  is  V.  C. 
W.  Hooker — not  exactly,  but  a  name  very 
similar.  I  can't  quite  make  it  out.  He 
says  he  will  talk  to  you  at  another  time.' 
As  you  saw  when  I  opened  the  slip  it 
showed  as  I  had  written  it  the  name  of 


DO    THE   DEAD   RETVRN  f        63 

V.  C.  W.  Hooper,  a  man  who  was  quite 
prominent  in  Merced  during  Ms  lifetime. 
Just  how  the  Doctor  found  that  out  I 
leave  to  others  who  were  there  to  explain 
when  they  have  time  after  accounting  for 
the  mysterious  things  that  happened  to 
themselves.  I  cannot  and  will  not  pre- 
tend to.  It  was  not  mind-reading,  how- 
ever. Of  that  I  am  satisfied.  For  as  he 
picked  up  the  fifth  slip  and  said,  '  This  is 
the  name  of  the  dead  man,'  he  did  not 
get  that  information  by  reading  my  mind, 
for  there  were  two  more  slips  remaining, 
and  I  could  n't  say  which  was  which. 
That  is  beyond  any  explanation.  Mind- 
reading  will  not  fit  it  at  all. 

"  One  of  the  party — I  think  it  was  Mr. 
Barnes — wrote  the  name  of  tico  dead  men 
in  his  list.  Leaving  out  the  first  problem 
— the  picking  up  of  the  right  slip — 
putting  that  aside,  how  is  it  to  be  ex- 
plained that  the  Doctor  chose  the  right 
name  of  the  two  dead  ones?    Mr.  Barnes 


54        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 

did  not  know.  He  had  not  opened  the 
slip ;  therefore  the  Doctor  could  not  read 
his  mind.  For  myself,  I  give  up  the  co- 
nundrum. Very  truly. 

"  H.  H.  McCloskey." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  NARRATORS. 

To  any  one  who  has  a  fair  knowledge 
of  human  nature,  a  glance  at  the  line 
pictures  of  the  gentlemen  who  partici- 
pated in  the  events  with  which  this  book 
deals  will  tell  that  they  are  men  of  char- 
acter and  keen  observation.  In  San  Fran- 
cisco and  throughout  the  West  many  of 
them  are  as  well  known  as  the  Governor 
of  the  State. 

Their  names  need  no  introduction,  and 
since  they  have  been  representative  men 
for  many  years  it  is  not  necessary  to  say 
much  about  them.  For  the  benefit  of 
persons  who  know  nothing  concerning 
them,  however,  the  following  information 
is  submitted: — 


66        DO    THE   DEAD    RETURN  f 

Patrick  Crowley,  Chief  of  Police,  was 
born  in  Albany  County,  New  York,  on 
March  17,  1831.  When  quite  young  he 
went  to  New  York  and  worked  in  different 
printing-offices.  He  came  to  San  Fran- 
cisco in  1850,  and  worked  in  the  mining- 
camps  for  two  or  three  years.  He  was 
engaged  in  the  boating  business  here, 
when  in  1854  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
Town  Constable  on  the  Democratic  ticket. 
He  was  re-elected  on  the  same  ticket  in 
1855,  and  from  1856  he  was  re-elected 
every  two  years  on  the  old  People's  Party 
ticket  till  1866,  when  he  was  elected  Chief 
of  Police.  He  held  that  office  by  election 
for  six  years,  when  he  quit  the  force  and 
went  into  the  brokerage  business.  In 
1878,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  the 
Board  of  Police  Commissioners  received 
the  power  to  appoint  the  Chief  of  Police. 
The  office  was  tendered  him,  and  after  con- 
siderable pressure  he  reluctantly  accepted 
it,  as  he  was  making  an  excellent  living 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f        57 

at  his  business.  He  held  the  office  by 
election  or  appointment  for  twenty-four 
successive  years.  His  wide  experience 
with  criminals,  bunko-men,  and  all  sorts 
of  tricksters  gave  him  excellent  training 
and  amply  fitted  him  for  a  thorough  in- 
spection of  all  that  was  done  during  the 
seances.  In  fact,  it  was  his  boast  at  the 
beginning  of  his  sitting  with  Dr.  Schlesin- 
ger  that  he  had  helped  to  trap  the  Eddies 
and  other  disreputable  mediums,  and  that 
he  would  soon  expose  the  fraud  in  the  case 
in  hand. 

William  S.  Barnes^  son  of  the  eloquent 
and  famous  General  W.  H.  L.  Barnes 
(knoAvn  all  over  America  as  the  greatest 
living  after-dinner  orator,  and  known  all 
over  the  United  States  as  a  Kepublican 
orator),  is  a  graduate  of  Harvard  and  a 
man  of  fine  legal  attainments.  He  is  one 
of  the  most  prominent  Native  Sons,  and  is 
famous  for  his  shrewdness  as  Prosecut- 


58        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 

ing  Attorney  for  the  great  City  and 
County  of  San  Francisco.  It  was  he  who 
prosecuted  and  convicted  Theodore  Dur- 
rant  in  one  of  the  most  marvelous  crimi- 
nal cases  of  the  century.  He  was  also  the 
star  lawyer  in  the  prosecution  of  the  great 
Sydney  Bell  footpad  case.  Mr.  Barnes 
was  the  organizer  and  president  of  the 
Association  of  District  Attorneys  of  Cali- 
fornia ;  is  an  active  member  of  California 
Lodge  No.  1,  F.  &  A.  M.,  a  member  of  the 
Pacific-Union  Club,  also  of  the  Union 
League,  of  which  he  is  one  of  a  committee 
on  political  action,  of  the  Juarez  Manu- 
facturing Company,  of  which  he  is  Presi- 
dent. Thus  his  mastery  in  the  legal 
profession  is  no  less  equaled  in  his  social 
and  business  associations. 

Attorney  Charles  L.  Patton  is  Grand 
Master  of  California  Masonic  fraternity, 
and  is  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  personal 
and  professional  character.     He  was  a 


DO    THE    DEAD    RETURN?        59 

strong  competitor  against  Mayor  Phelan, 
and  was  chosen  by  the  Republican  party  a 
few  years  ago  as  the  best  candidate 
against  the  present  (1900)  Mayor  of  the 
city.  Mr.  Patton  is  a  man  of  much  erudi- 
tion and  wide  experience  with  men  and 
books.  He,  like  all  his  associates,  and  like 
the  writer  of  this  book,  was  and  is  a  skep- 
tic regarding  the  truth  of  so-called  spirit- 
ual phenomena.  His  account  speaks  for 
itself. 

Mayor  L.  R.  Ellert  is  a  man  of  legal 
attainments  and  of  wide  business  inter- 
ests. He  was  a  popular  reform  Mayor, 
and  was  in  office  at  the  time  of  the  occur- 
rences narrated.  He  is  to-day  one  of  the 
best-known  and  most  highly  respected 
lawyers  and  business  men  of  San  Fran- 
cisco. For  many  years  he  was  a  skillful 
pharmacist,  and  his  wide  knowledge  of 
drugs  and  physiology  was  useful  in  the 
attempted  solution  of  the  various  prob- 
lems presented  by  the  medium. 


60        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN  f 

Judge  Egbert  Ferral  is  the  warhorse 
of  Democracy,  and  one  of  the  Nestors  of 
the  California  bar.  He  made  some  of  the 
most  spirited  races  ever  entered  upon  for 
Congress,  and  polled  the  largest  vote  ever 
known  for  an  unpopular  political  party 
in  the  old  days.  As  a  judge  and  criminal 
lawyer  of  wide  experience,  as  well  as  by 
reason  of  his  unexcelled  literary  attain- 
ments and  extended  experience  in  the 
science  of  hypnotism  and  kindred  phe- 
nomena, the  Judge  was  an  invaluable 
spectator  and  participant,  especially  as 
his  native  wit  usually  enables  him  to  see 
through  many  things  that  puzzle  other 
men.  Here,  however,  he  stood  dumb- 
founded. 

Dr.  E.  E.  Bunker  is  a  regular  physi- 
cian of  high  reputation  and  personal 
standing.  He  was  at  the  time  of  the 
matters  recorded  in  charge  of  the  City 
Eeceiving  Hospital,  and  was  considered 


DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN?        61 

one  of  the  most  careful  and  competent  ob- 
servers at  the  seance.  Like  all  others 
named,  Dr.  Bunker's  word  is  absolutely 
above  reproach,  and  there  is  not  a  more 
competent  man  in  the  country. 

Theodore  F.  Bonnet  was  at  the  time 
of  the  seance  a  reporter  for  the  Daily 
Report  He  was  afterwards  elected  to  the 
important  position  of  License  Collector, 
and  is  now  editor  and  owner  of  Town 
Talk.  This  is  one  of  the  best  weekly 
papers  in  the  United  States,  and  its  suc- 
cess dates  from  its  purchase  by  the  gentle- 
man named.  Mr.  Bonnet  is  an  Elk  of  high 
standing,  and  a  man  of  good  family  and 
social  position.  In  addition  to  all  these 
facts,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  his 
long  training  as  a  reporter  fitted  him  in 
a  peculiarly  advantageous  way  for  the 
duties  of  trying  to  detect  what  was  done 
by  the  medium. 


62        DO    THE    DEAD   RETURN? 

H.  H.  McCloskey  was  a  casual  visitor 
at  the  seance,  being  the  guest  of  District 
Attorney  Barnes.  Mr.  McCloskey  was  at 
the  time  a  resident  of  Merced,  and  was  a 
prominent  lawyer  and  politician.  He  was 
also  a  Eepublican  State  Central  Com- 
mitteeman and  was  considered  one  of 
the  ablest  of  the  party.  He  is  to-day  a 
well-known  San  Francisco  attorney.  His 
account  of  the  seance  explains  just  what 
occurred. 

These  facts,  with  some  of  the  pictures, 
will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  men 
whose  narratives  he  has  doubtless  read 
with  pleasure. 

In  conclusion,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  this  book  is  sold  by  the  publishers 
only.  It  will  be  sent  to  any  address  for 
fifty  cents.  If  you  have  enjoyed  reading 
it,  recommend  it  to  the  next  friend  you 
meet. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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